Tully: A year-end offering of thanks

Dec. 27, 2013

Officers and their families line up as they wait for the casket of IMPD Officer Rod Bradway to be carried to its final resting place during the burial service at Crown Hill Cemetery on Sept. 26. Matt Detrich / The Star

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So there I was on Christmas Eve morning, sitting at my kitchen counter as I glanced out the front window and saw a garbage truck pull in front of my house. It was 7 degrees out and two young men were rushing around, gathering the trash my neighbors and I had put out the night before.

I was dreading the 20-foot walk in the cold from my front door to my car. But there were those two men, spending several hours in the frigid morning air gathering the cityís garbage.

Thanks, guys.

It made me think, in this holiday season, about how many people deserve our thanks. Not just when the holidays have us all feeling a bit more appreciative, but always. So as this year approaches its end, todayís column is all about thanks. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list, but I hope a reminder of the many people who make our city and state a little better every day.

To the cityís police officers, thank you for serving and protecting us during a particularly challenging year. You solved tough crimes that rattled the city and spent day after day putting yourselves at risk and reducing the risks faced by the rest of us, and you took a lot of grief along the way.

Thanks, too, to all the great teachers out there. Your job is challenging, and itís one that impacts the future like few others. I was lucky to spend a good chunk of my year observing several great teachers. Itís an art form and, for those pushing kids forward, you have the appreciation of a grateful state.

Iíd also like to thank Rev. Charles Harrison and his team of crime-fighters. Harrison is the head of the Ten Point Coalition, a group of ministers that has spent the year calming tensions and proactively attacking crime in some of the cityís most troubled and violent neighborhoods. Itís impossible to know how many crimes were prevented by the groupís work, but itís clear that Harrison and his team had a tremendous impact.

To the many wonderful and effective nonprofits in the city, thank you for showing that there are many different ways to attack the biggest problems in the city and state, and that there are creative ways to improve the lives of at-risk children and families.

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In case you are wondering, yes, there are also people in the political world worth thanking ó public servants who put the public good ahead of politics. There are more of these folks than many people think.

First on my list this year is state Rep. Christina Hale of Indianapolis, who has singlehandedly raised the amount of attention paid to the disturbingly high rate of Indiana girls who have been sexually assaulted. In Carmel, Iíd like to thank Mayor Jim Brainard for continuing to remind us that politicians can think big and creatively. And in D.C., Iíd like to thanks Indianaís senators, Republican Dan Coats and Democrat Joe Donnelly, for acting as reasonable adults in a time of political silliness.

Then there is Indianapolis Public Safety Director Troy Riggs, who has used his position to improve confidence in the local police department and to bring together all of the groups that can have an impact on crime. He understands that truly fighting crime is about more than arresting people; it is about tackling the deep-seated social problems that lead to crime.

Speaking of Riggs, I recently spent a day observing all aspects of his vast public safety system. All I can say to all the firefighters, EMTs, and others in the system is this: thank you for what you do.

There are so many others worth thanking, of course. There are the volunteers who give their time to important causes and the activists who fight for cleaner air and water, better schools and safer streets. There are the entrepreneurs who both create jobs and add to the local flavor of our neighborhoods. There are the leaders in the public and private worlds who push Indiana to aim higher. And there are the many readers who continue to inspire me with the care they show for those who need a hand.

Thanks to all of them, and to all of you. Please have a safe and happy New Year.